News Archive for January 2023

A part of the Galactic plane as seen by the ASKAP radio telescope and the Parkes radio telescope, Murriyang, showing supernova remnants and the space between the stars. Image credit: R. Kothes, NRC / PEGASUS Team.

Radio Astronomers Discover New Supernova Remnants in Milky Way Galaxy

Jan 17, 2023 by News Staff

Using the ASKAP and Parkes radio telescopes in Australia, astronomers have observed a large section of the Galactic plane of the Milky Way. A part of the...

The 124-m-high telecommunication tower of Säntis in Switzerland; also shown is the path of the laser recorded with its second harmonic at 515 nm. Image credit: Houard et al., doi: 10.1038/s41566-022-01139-z.

Firing Intense Laser Pulses at the Sky Can Divert Lightning

Jan 17, 2023 by News Staff

Scientists have demonstrated that laser-induced filaments — formed in the sky by short and intense laser pulses — can guide lightning discharges...

A time averaged artist’s interpretation of Patagonia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 66-78 million years ago. The animals pictured include non-avian dinosaurs, birds and other vertebrates that have been discovered in the fossil record of the region. Their specific identifications are as follows: ornithurine birds (flying and walking on the ground), Stegouros (armored dinosaur), Orretherium (mammal), Yaminuechelys (turtle), a megaraptorid (large carnivore), unenlagiines (pair of carnivores), and enantiornithine birds (in foreground). Image credit: Mauricio Alvarez & Gabriel Diaz.

Paleontologists Uncover First Theropod Fossils in Chilean Patagonia

Jan 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described new specimens of theropods — a dinosaur group that includes both modern birds and their closest non-avian dinosaur...

This illustration shows the inner and outer halos of our Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Feild, STScI.

Milky Way’s Stellar Halo is At Least Two Million Light-Years Across

Jan 16, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers from the University of California, Santa Cruz and elsewhere have discovered 208 new RR Lyrae variable stars in the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy;...

Top - Madagascar, from left to right: Aldabrachelys abrupta, Aldabrachelys grandidieri, Pyxis planicauda, Pyxis arachnoides, Astrochelys rogerbouri (new species), Astrochelys yniphora, and Astrochelys radiata. Center - Granitic Seychelles (extinct), Aldabra, Aldabrachelys gigantea. Bottom - Mascarenes, from left to right: Cylindraspis indica (Réunion), Cylindraspis inepta, Cylindraspis triserrata (both Mauritius), Cylindraspis vosmaeri, and Cylindraspis peltastes (both Rodrigues). Image credit: Michal Rössler / Massimo Delfino.

Ancient DNA Study Elucidates Lost World of Indian Ocean Giant Tortoises

Jan 16, 2023 by News Staff

Before humans arrived, giant tortoises occurred on many islands in the western Indian Ocean. In new research, Professor Uwe Fritz from the Senckenberg...

The East Asian finless porpoise (Neophocaena sunameri) photographed in Penglai Polar Ocean World, Penglai, Shandong, China. Image credit: Yin et al., doi: 10.1038/s41597-022-01868-4.

Researchers Sequence Genome of East Asian Finless Porpoise

Jan 16, 2023 by News Staff

The team’s goal was to assemble a gapless genome for the East Asian finless porpoise (Neophocaena sunameri) to aid in the conservation of this endangered...

This Hubble image shows the dwarf irregular galaxy UGC 7983. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Tully.

Hubble Space Telescope Spies UGC 7983

Jan 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

UGC 7983 is a dwarf irregular galaxy, a type thought to be similar to the very earliest galaxies in the Universe. This Hubble image shows the dwarf irregular...

This image, taken by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, shows the star cluster NGC 346. Webb reveals the presence of many more building blocks than previously expected, not only for stars, but also planets, in the form of clouds packed with dust and hydrogen. The plumes and arcs of gas in this image contains two types of hydrogen. The pink gas represents energized hydrogen, which is typically as hot as around 10,000 degrees Celsius (approximately 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit) or more, while the more orange gas represents dense, molecular hydrogen, which is much colder at around minus 200 degrees Celsius or less (approximately minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit), and associated dust. The colder gas provides an excellent environment for stars to form, and, as they do, they change the environment around them. The effect of this is seen in the various ridges throughout, which are created as the light of these young stars breaks down the dense clouds. The many pillars of glowing gas show the effects of this stellar erosion throughout the region. In this image blue was assigned to the wavelength of 2.0 microns (F200W), green was assigned to 2.77 microns (F277W), orange was assigned to 3.35 microns (F335M), and red was assigned to 4.44 microns (F444W). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / O. Jones, UK ATC / G. De Marchi, ESTEC / M. Meixner, USRA / A. Pagan, STScI / N. Habel, USRA / L. Lenkic, USRA / L. Chu, NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Webb Probes Most Massive Star-Forming Region of Small Magellanic Cloud

Jan 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have revealed many new pockets of star formation in NCG 346, an open star cluster in the...

Symplocos kowalewskii. Image credit: Sadowski & Hofmann, doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-24549-z.

34-Million-Year-Old Baltic Amber Preserves Exceptionally Large Flower

Jan 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Amber exquisitely preserves the delicate organs of fossil flowers for millions of years. However, flower inclusions can be rare and usually do not exceed...

The Tissint meteorite. Image credit: Ludovic Ferriere, Natural History Museum Vienna.

Scientists Find Various Organic Compounds in Martian Meteorite

Jan 12, 2023 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has detected abundant polyaromatic compounds, organic magnesium compounds, aliphatic branched carboxylic acids, aldehydes,...

An artist’s impression of LHS 475b and its parent star. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Leah Hustak, STScI.

Webb Confirms Earth-Sized Planet around LHS 475

Jan 12, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have validated the discovery of a warm, 0.99 Earth-radius exoplanet interior to the habitable...

The Hoko-3 cultivar of red perilla. Image credit: Mishima Foods Co., Ltd.

Researchers Sequence Chromosome-Level Genome of Red Perilla

Jan 12, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Scientists in Japan have generated a highly contiguous genome assembly of the red variety of Perilla frutescens, an important herbal plant with hundreds...

Huang et al. showed that the brain’s functional geometry (e.g., network distance in the gradient space) and temporal dynamics (e.g., occurrence rates of co-activation patterns) covary with the state of consciousness. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

Brain’s Functional Geometry Encodes Dimensions of Consciousness, Neuroscientists Say

Jan 12, 2023 by News Staff

Consciousness is a multidimensional phenomenon, but key dimensions such as awareness and wakefulness have been described conceptually rather than neurobiologically....

The 1,000-year-old remains of the Viking hall near Hune, Denmark. Image credit: Nordjyske Museer.

1,000-Year-Old Viking Hall Unearthed in Denmark

Jan 11, 2023 by News Staff

Archaeologists from Nordjyske Museer have unearthed the remains of a Viking-age structure near the village of Hune in Denmark. The 1,000-year-old remains...

This artist’s conception shows the galaxy merger and its two central black holes. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / M. Weiss, NRAO, AUI & NSF.

UGC 4211’s Pair of Supermassive Black Holes is Closest to Colliding Ever Seen

Jan 11, 2023 by News Staff

While close together in cosmological terms at just 750 light-years apart, or 6x the black hole sphere of influence, the supermassive black holes in the...

Legionella bononiensis, magnification 20 ,000x. Image credit: Girolamini et al., doi: 10.1099/ijsem.0.005512.

New Legionella Species Discovered in Italy

Jan 11, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Legionella are Gram-negative aerobic bacilli that live in fresh and man-made water environments. Legionella bononiensis, magnification 20 ,000x. Image...

An artist’s impression of TOI-700e (larger planet) and TOI-700d. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Robert Hurt.

TESS Discovers Second Earth-Sized Planet in Habitable Zone of TOI-700

Jan 10, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The newly-discovered alien world, named TOI-700e, is 95% Earth’s size and likely rocky. An artist’s impression of TOI-700e (larger planet) and TOI-700d....

A neutron star (blue sphere) spins in the center of a colorful disk of gas, some of which follows the magnetic field (blue lines) and flows (blue-white arcs) onto the object’s surface. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab.

Astronomers Discover Short-Lived Superheavy Neutron Stars

Jan 10, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers have examined data about 700 short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope,...

DeLong et al. estimate that each Halteria in their experiments ate 10,000 to one million viruses per day. Image credit: Proyecto Agua.

Halteria: These Freshwater Microorganisms Can Grow on Virus-Only Diet

Jan 10, 2023 by News Staff

Halteria, a genus of microscopic planktonic ciliates that are found in many freshwater environments, can eat huge numbers of infectious chloroviruses —...

A trio of faint galaxies (circled) captured in the Webb’s deep image of the galaxy cluster SMACS J0723.3-7327 exhibit properties remarkably similar to rare, small galaxies called green peas found much closer to home. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI.

Webb Finds Green Pea Galaxies in Early Universe

Jan 10, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have detected three high-redshift galaxies with remarkable similarities to ‘green pea’...

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